SP:PE for non armour people

[Fallschirmjager]

I am sure this gets asked alot, but I would guess everyones situation is a little different.
The game is marketed as a training tool as it rightly should be.
But how does the game play for a 'casual' sim gamer?

I have some military experience, but the service I was in we used feet and parachutes to get us around :P

Are there tutorials avaliable or does the game assume you would know all the functions?
How many hours a week is needed to learn this thing and become somewhat proficient?

How is the AI? Can it be adjusted to make the game easier to learn?

Anyone need some blood plasma so I can pay for this? :D

Thanks

[congo]

Sell the blood get the sim you'll enjoy it, somewhat steep learning curve but worth the effort. AI can be defeated since they are is an extension of the scenario designers ego.

[Lone*star49]

I am sure this gets asked alot, but I would guess everyones situation is a little different.
The game is marketed as a training tool as it rightly should be.
But how does the game play for a 'casual' sim gamer?

I have some military experience, but the service I was in we used feet and parachutes to get us around :P

1. Are there tutorials avaliable or does the game assume you would know all the functions?

2. How many hours a week is needed to learn this thing and become somewhat proficient?

3. How is the AI? Can it be adjusted to make the game easier to learn?

:arrow: Anyone need some blood plasma so I can pay for this? :D

Thanks

...

:arrow: LMAO, I'm sure you'll get many volunteers..

1. Yes, the CD comes complete with manual (book) and tutorials, which if one goes thru each one, will have an understanding that will allow one to fall back on and learn better, when the time comes.

2. Hmmm, that will depend on your memory-skills, but I'd say, some 10 to 20 hrs, before you try and go MP solo.. IMO (stick to SP sce's mode)

3. Yes, in options IIRC, there are 3 levels of difficulty to choose from, but be advised, no free rides (the sim is all business) if ya know what I mean.. lol

And when, and you will, lol, have a question, you can always post it, and get your anwers (fairly fast) along with go online to SB TS (team speak) and ask-away, as the community help is first-class.


Good hunting




LS

[Fallschirmjager]

Thanks :)

Is the game still playable with a mouse and keyboard or is a nice joystick needed?

[panzerschreck]

...somewhat steep learning curve but worth the effort....

That's true. I am an average gamer and there were many frustrating moments when I started with SB. IMHO it is very important to take your time for this sim. You will need at least a little bit endurance to get your feeling of success.


But don't let yourself get discouraged by my words. I am just a medicore SB player with a lack of talent

:wink:

Of course an interest in tanks and military stuff helps a lot!

-still playble with keyboard and mouse
depends on your personal preference if you use joystick or keybord/mouse.

[tankenator]

I use a trackball (mouse) and a control pad (basically a custom keyboard) but keyboard and mouse is sufficient. Tried it with a joystick and cannot gun without very intense pain in my wrists so.....but to each his own

[FlatTax]

Mouse/keyboard has many ardent believers. I wouldn't play any other way. The tutorials are pretty comprehensive, so I'd say jump in.

[ARM505]

Mouse/KB for me, I can't do a thing with the joystick.

I had just about zero interest in armour before I encountered the demo for SB1 - but as a serious sim fan, it's 'purity of purpose' (if I can call it that), and the developers obvious lust for detail sold me for long enough to acquire one.

[Ssnake]

Man fragt sich ja schon, wie verdreht jemand aus Bremen sein muß, daß er ein "Bayern München"-Emblem spazieren trägt... :twisted:
But how does the game play for a 'casual' sim gamer?
As a casual simulation game player I'd say there is a decent chance that you might learn to love it. It certainly helps if you have some wargaming interest, and/or a good understanding of and interest in contemporary combined arms combat tactics.

Steel Beasts is a vehicle centric simulation. Unlike a flight simulation however it's not enough to understand the ins and outs of your own vehicle, simply because in most scenarios you have little knowledge about the enemy strength and force disposition, and not much of "ahead warning" like a radar receiver in, say, Falcon 4. You're rarely going to just drop a few bombs on a stationary target either.

To that extent it is as if an entire fighter wing equipped with AMRAAMs and short range AA missiles would suddenly find itself in a furball with an enemy fighter wing, and all that over an area infested with SAM sites and AAA.
You are going to lose your own vehicle on a more or less regular basis, but you will also have many more vehicles to use after your first is gone. I'm mentioning the AMRAAMs in the above example because tank guns have an impressive range of up to 4km, as do most anti tank missiles, so the challenge is to deal with multiple-threat situations both at short range (infantry with hand-held anti tank wepons, e.g. bazooka type), medium range (dismounted anti tank missile launchers, e.g. Milan), and long range.

Unlike sky, the ground is an extremely complex environment as well. I'm not saying that the sky is just empty space and it's just about who's got the better radar and the longer ranging missile in flight simulations. But there are forests, hills, buildings, rivers that may block your way, minefields, etc. All this in combination with the need to coordinate artillery, infantry, IFVs, tanks, and engineers.

Yeah, it can get complicated. But if you manage to get all this right, it's a blast!
:)


It is this background when I say that mastering Steel Beasts is "more demanding" than a flight simulation. I don't try to belittle flight simulations, but while there are similarities there are also significant differences. It's nothing that you cannot learn. If you have spent your time to master a complex simulation like Falcon 4 you have proven your basic qualifications for learning SB Pro PE as well - you're smart enough, and you have the tenacity. The question now is, how strong is your interest in ground warfare. If you were playing flight simulations mostly because you were always dreaming to fly as a child and can't afford a pilot's license I'd say that you may not bring the proper motivation. But if it is a genuine interest about "how mechanized warfare is being done", you've come to the right place.
:)

[congo]

FSJ

Ditto to Ssnakes reply. All this in combination with the need to coordinate artillery, infantry, IFVs, tanks, and engineers. Proper coordination is probably one of the more difficult aspects of the game. BTW where are you in Fairfax, Arlington for me

[plummerx]

I still think Esim underestimates this software's general appeal in the game market insofar as I think that it's much closer to release-able as SBII than Esim may think. To be sure, there are a few things that will need to be added:

Better effects, shadows, weather, time of day etc, more vehicals and interiors, modeling of the drivers stations etc. Probably most important would be expanded multiplayer. In terms of Esim pace of development and adherance to quality, this could be some time coming. However, this is vastly more desireable than Esim leveraging the game out to some other publisher, as there isn't a game out there that one of the "bigs" cannot seem to screw up.

As to complexity, I think any average flight sim player can easily handle it.

As to controls, I played SB1 exclusively with a joystick. This I did not have at the release of Pro-pe, and I adapted fairly well to mouse and keys. I now have a new stick, and the transition back to the joystick has been a little tougher for some reason.

[Fallschirmjager]

I have a good understanding of infantry tactics and of mech infantry tatics.
I was in the Bundeswehr for 7 years as both an enlisted and then as a platoon leader.
We never got to work much with the armour since we in battle situations we were not expected to have that kind of support.
I have always been interested in military history and have spent hundreds of hours playing PC and tabletop wargames.

I was more asking if the tutorials and documentation were new player friendly.
Sounds like they are :)

And by 'casual' I meant as someone whos life did not depend on how they did in this simulation :D
There are many here who serve in armoured formations and this is just an extention of their daily job.
To me its just going to be a fun diversion.
I do not think anyone who would plunk down $125 USD on a game could be called 'casua'l. :D


As for complexity vs a flight sim, I just do not see it.
Unless this is light years more advanced than SB1.
I find F4-Allied force (which I love playing) to be light years more complex than any other sim I have attempted (besides Dangerous Waters)


I went ahead and ordered and am looking forward to diving in :)

As for where I live, I live in Fairfax about 5 minutes north of GMU which I will be attending in the fall for my graduate degree.
I moved here in January after my service time in Germany was complete.
I got a drivers license in March for the first time in my life and I have to drive into the city every day for work which is quite a trip for someone who never drove until he was 26 :D
You people need to build some more damn trains :lol:

[congo]

FSJ,

PM me sometime and well get together for a beer and to discuss that damn train situation. I'm about 3 clicks from the Pentagon. You picked a good place to learn how to drive with what you learn here they will never issue you a German license when you return home. Good luck at GMU pretty good school, my daughter is working on her masters there.

[Fallschirmjager]

FSJ,

PM me sometime and well get together for a beer and to discuss that damn train situation. I'm about 3 clicks from the Pentagon. You picked a good place to learn how to drive with what you learn here they will never issue you a German license when you return home. Good luck at GMU pretty good school, my daughter is working on her masters there.

Oh really? What is her field of study, perhaps we will run into one another


And what are some decent local bars/breweries?
I am dying for a decent liter!

[Torak101]

I
As for where I live, I live in Fairfax about 5 minutes north of GMU which I will be attending in the fall for my graduate degree.
I moved here in January after my service time in Germany was complete.
I got a drivers license in March for the first time in my life and I have to drive into the city every day for work which is quite a trip for someone who never drove until he was 26 :D
You people need to build some more damn trains :lol:

You and me did a flip - flop! I live near Amberg and work in Grafenwohr. I'm originally from Chicago.

[oscar19681]

About the tanks getting behind hill crests and hull down positions . Its kind of sneaky to see a tank hiding behind a hill and Most of the times its much harder to hit or lase them to..

[silberwiese]

Hey Falli,

there is a german Virtual Unit, called "Panzerbataillon 911".

We are currently very avtive (Online Games 1 -2 per week).


Komm mal rüber, hier wird Ihnen geholfen :D !

www.panzerbataillon911.de.vu

[Fallschirmjager]

My copy got here today, the train system might suck but the mail service is swift!

[Scorpius]

Wow, I'm suprised. When I was stationed in Germany from 92-95 I found the train system to be very efficient. I wish we had something that well laid out in the USA.

Er nevermind, I see now you're in VA. I thought you were talking about Germany, lol. Yeah, rail travel in the USA blows.

[chrisotto]

When I was stationed in Germany from 92-95 I found the train system to be very efficient. I wish we had something that well laid out in the USA.

Germany's train system sucks and pales in comparison to the Swiss. Here, they excuse themselves for ANY delay, no matter how minute.

[Storm91]

[I have some military experience, but the service I was in we used feet and parachutes to get us around :P

Ah the Airborne have arrived :P.Just do this go pick up a case of the german Licher beer and start gunnery tables til you get your kill times down to 4.0 secs in manual mode.

Damn Ssnake now you got grunts,scouts,airborne,rangers,french foreign legion taking over Pro PE.Tank sim no longer it's becoming something bigger. 8)

[flyboy]

Lol it,s called multi tasking.As the saying goes,Jacks of all trades,masters of none.

[Ssnake]

Fallschirmjäger, please reduce your avatar image to 100x100 pixels width, as per forum rules - thank you.

[Danish_Squid]

Storm91 you forgot us former Navy pukes... LOL

[ijozic]

Germany's train system sucks and pales in comparison to the Swiss. Here, they excuse themselves for ANY delay, no matter how minute.

Rumours are there were suicides in Japan over this. But you wouldn't want to beat that.

[Jaguar]

Rumours are there were suicides in Japan over this. But you wouldn't want to beat that.
Train systems in Japan are in fact first rate!